Tag: Matthew Pinnavaia

— San Diego presidential hopeful Matthew Pinnavaia was endorsed by Russian propagandists after he criticised U.S. foreign policy towards North Korea. Here he shares his outreach efforts to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un

In 2015, Pinnavaia made headlines in Russia after he sent an open letter to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, criticising U.S. foreign policy towards the Jong-un dictatorship. The story was subsequently peddled online by race-baiting propagandists working for the Internet Research Agency, the Russian troll factory that was recently indicted for allegedly meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

Headline: “A participant in the pre-election presidential race in the US apologised to Kim Jong-un for ‘Interview’” (source)

After I published my post, Pinnavaia contacted me to share a second letter he sent to Jong-un in August last year criticising America’s “arrogance and belligerence,” and requesting to visit North Korea “as a future President of the United States of America.”

Pinnavaia’s correspondence included a seven-point “Treaty of Non-Engagement” calling for “a cessation of any, and or, all belligerent, harsh, and immoral international political statements, as composed and emanating from the Office of the President of the United States of America…which can be interpreted as hostile ‘Words of War’ towards the Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).”

In an e-mail, Pinnavaia said: “I believe my beloved country, the United States of America, has not adhered to the first American Foreign Policy of our beloved father of our country, President George Washington.”

Pinnavaia said his treaty, which he also sent to South Korean president Moon Jae-in, has led to “a diplomatic breakthrough” between North and South Korea (Pinnavaia didn’t get a response from either governments).

Asked about his endorsement by Russian trolls, Pinnavaia said: “When I write about American Foreign Policy, I speak the truth, therefore, any propaganda that is used in conjunction with the truth that I speak, does not contain value.”

Pinnavaia said he is currently setting-up a website for his political party, The George Washington Party, in preparation for his 2020 presidential run.

In January 2015, Pinnavaia made headlines in Russia after a major news agency,TASS, reported that he’d written an open letter to Kim Jong-un apologising to the North Korean dictator on behalf of the U.S.

The cause for apology: comments made by then-U.S. President Barack Obama in support of The Interview, a 2014 satirical film about the Jong-un dictatorship, after it was pulled from cinemas by distributor Sony (the company later reversed its decision).

A member of the presidential election race in the US has written an open letter to Kim Jong-un and the people of the DPRK with apologies for the scandalous Hollywood film “Interview” in which a fictional attempt on the North Korean leader is played out. Matthew Pinnavaia, who applied to participate in the 2016 elections, accuses the current inhabitant of the White House of “immoral politics” in relation to the DPRK.

“The endorsement by the President of the United States of America of a film that reflects the [assassination] of a foreign leader or president is a tragic misdemeanour for the history of my beloved country, and is definitely an amoral and tragic chapter in the history of American foreign policy,” says the letter, a copy of which was received by TASS.

“President Barack Obama, the head of the Japanese corporation Sony Kaz Hirai and the president of the American corporation Sony Pictures Entertainment Michael Lynton are responsible for the immoral policy towards the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Pinnavaia writes. His letter begins with the words “dear Kim Jong-un,” and ends with an assurance that he himself “does not approve” an attempt on “the foreign leader.”

Attempts to contact the author of the letter by phone have not yet been marked with success. According to the official website of the US Federal Electoral Commission, 56-year-old Matthew Pinnavaia, who lives in California, applied to participate in the upcoming US presidential election on June 20, 2014. However, this formal step does not guarantee that his name will be included in the ballot paper.

The story quickly caught the attention of the Internet Research Agency, the Russian propaganda factory that was recently indicted for allegedly meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

Leaked documents obtained by Russian newspaper My Area (MR7.ru) show the now-infamous troll factory instructed its army of “kremlebots” to spread the story on LiveJournal, using Pinnavaia’s letter as a pretext to promote a “negative attitude to the foreign policy of the state, conducted by Obama” (a database of the factory’s LiveJournal profiles is available to view by clicking here).

[Pinnavaia] apologised not only for himself, but, as it turned out, for the greater part of Americans. He became a gray cardinal who gave publicity to the people’s thoughts.

It went on to speculate about how the incident might affect the 2016 election, while commenting disparagingly about “the first and inglorious black president.”

It will be interesting to observe this directly at the elections. Obama’s policy has completely failed. Trying to defend freedom of speech, Obama dug himself, probably the last trench of the first and inglorious black president. Oh, Martin Luther [King] would not thank him, alas.

Another post, published under the pseudonym “winter_kinder,” included a racist rant comparing Obama to “hefty negro” Mike Tyson.

[Jong-un] about a year ago calmly said: “If you do not take your hands off my country, I’ll send my favorite NUCLEAR ROCKETS, BLACK !!!” It’s as stupid as to approach Mike Tyson and ask: “Hey, hefty Negro, can you tell me your sister’s number?”

It went on to trumpet the virtues of respecting “other people’s traditions,” describing Pinnavaia’s apology as “the right step.”

[Pinnavaia] generally considered it necessary to apologise to the leader of North Korea, which, in my opinion, was the right step. After all, I very much doubt that the States would be delighted if Iran shot a film about an attack somewhere in Manhattan, as a result of which their head of state is killed. In short, I even have my own list of films that can not be, just can not be watched because of their extreme cheerfulness and disrespect for other people’s traditions.

Yet another post, published under the pseudonym “vince_crane,” hoped that Jong-un would bomb cinemas that showed the offending film.

[Not] all residents of the States approve of their president (in this situation, to aggravate relations with the DPRK…is simply stupid), on the contrary, Obama’s ratings say the opposite! Yes, and one of the candidates for the presidency of the United States…has already accused the current head of state Barack Obama of “immoral policy” towards the DPRK and sent an open letter of apology to Kim Jong-un…

It’s a pity that this Pinnavaia has not yet become president (and it is unlikely to become).

It’s unclear if Pinnavaia made the comments attributed to him as he didn’t reply to a request for comment, although a second article by TASS said the agency had corresponded with him and that he was “preparing another letter…addressed to the leadership of the Russian Federation” concerning “the economic sanctions imposed by Washington.”

You can read more leaked documents from inside the Russian troll factory by clicking here.